First Impressions of the Avengers Movie

The tone might be a little bit pompous, but these are my impressions the morning after the night before. I haven't been especially enthusiastic about Marvel's little cinematic universe project (not actively opposed, just uninspired), so this might explain why I enjoyed it less than the cinema audience, who were lapping it up for the most part.

How much you enjoy Joss Whedon’s super-powered ensemble piece, in which some of Marvel Comic’s biggest names unite to stave off an apocalyptic threat to the Earth, depends on how invested you’ve been in the preceding five movies in Marvel Studio’s expanding continuity. There’s been an off-putting whiff of cynicism about the affair since the beginning, with films increasingly acting as bloated trailers for promised further delights, fanboy-pleasing guest appearances and wallet-baiting post-credits stingers slotting into oft-underwhelming narratives with cold and rather impersonal efficiency.

   This doesn’t necessarily mean that there is nothing of merit to be found in this long-hyped climax to four years of slick marketing build-up. But after all the glitz, the glamour, the industrial-strength foreshadowing, it is a little underwhelming to find that the Avengers finally assemble for something as prosaic as a MacGuffin hunt followed by an extended battle with generic alien aggressors.

  It is perhaps to be expected that the studio machine would play safe with their prized properties, preferring a rote plot to any more adventurous….adventuring, in order to ensure broad appeal and cosy profits. But within the inevitable restrictions that come with the multi-million pound territory, Whedon and crew do manage to slip some nice touches in amongst the plot nonsense. The stand-out is Tom Hiddlestone as the villainous Loki, an embittered, ruthless demi-god with a magnificently towering contempt for the human race he plans to rule. The silliness of his glossy costume and the blandness of his motives fade into insignificance beside the sneering bravura with which Hiddlestone delivers every line, gloating and raging with convincingly unfettered malice. It’s a shame that he’s only a front for faceless Space Invaders, with little soul behind impressive visuals. The heroes get their moments as well; although some of their interactions seem a little forced, the ratio of sparkling dialogue to dull cliché is a healthy one. Mark Ruffalo in particular is a more convincingly world-weary Bruce Banner than Edward Norton was, while Robert Downey Jr. and the rest of the crew fit snugly back into their old roles, with no obvious spot-light hogging.

  And of course, there is enough eye-popping acrobatics and physics-defying explosive brawling to dazzle the most jaded action fan.